Pittsburg ? A Kansas National Guard soldier who received the Purple Heart medal for combat wounds in Iraq is grateful to his fellow soldiers for taking care of him.

“It’s not an award you are hoping to get while you are over there,” said Staff Sgt. Ryan Qualls, “but it’s nice to be recognized for your services.”

Qualls, of Company A, 891st Engineer Battalion based in Pittsburg, was wounded in the face and arms from an explosion.

“What we were doing was putting razor wire around the culverts that run underneath the roads, concrete culverts, so the bad guys couldn’t put bombs in there,” he said. “So what they did is, they stuck the bomb really far back in the hole and waited for us to show up that day. And as we were off loading the wire they blew us up.”

Qualls, from Baxter Springs, said other soldiers took care of him until he was evacuated by helicopter.

“I owe it to them to be here today,” he said.

Qualls will be eligible for retirement in September, when he reaches 20 years of service. He was on active duty for four years before joining the 891st in 1990.

“I will retire next year when the guys come home,” he said.